It was Development Cup Final Day at Energia Park on Wednesday with eight schools looking to take silverware home.
Four well contested games took place across the day with one even needing a replay.
Anne McInerney Senior Development Cup Final
St Mary’s, Edenderry 35 Arklow CBS 8
The X-Factor of St Mary’s Edenderry saw them cross the line first in the Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Anne McInerney Senior Development Cup final at Energia Park on Wednesday.
There was an electric opening as St Mary’s full-back Paidi Farrell somehow escaped numerous tackles on a risky counter.
No sooner had this happened than Arklow centre Darragh O’Murchu sped up the left to be hauled down by Sean McCarthy.
Arklow’s Padraic Bermingham was secure at the lineout, while Edenderry lock Eoin Sheehan rumbled forward before out-half Conn Kinsella nudged Arklow in front from a penalty in the eighth minute.
Each school taking it in-turn to play off-the-cuff and kick long when cornered.
From a scrum deep inside the 22, St Mary’s Mark Whelehan rocketed around the first tackle and up to halfway where the scrum-half passed for out-half Rory Allen to go the rest of the way for a stunning try, converted by Allen in the 15th minute.
This injection of pace energised the Offaly school, centre Fionn O’Grady powering through tacklers and midfield partner Stephen Cox completing a swift attack for Allen’s two to make it 14-3 in the 23rd minute.
The Wicklow boys refused to take a backward step, using the ruck to claw back the ball and number eight Oran Kelly almost grounded from a muscular burst.
It was left to Allen to run from behind his own line and feed the ball to Cox.
From there, full-back Farrell was simply jet-propelled for three-quarters the length of the pitch, Allen converting for 21-3 on the stroke of half-time.
It was asking a lot of Arklow to overcome Edenderry’s X-Factor, although Kelly and McCarthy tried to take them forward.
Still, they spread the game plan for wing Scott Kavanagh to get a touch up the left and scrum-half Conor Healy looked to run into space.
Edenderry lock Sheehan kicked long, but Arklow‘s ruck work was keeping it competitive, prop Eoin Byrne, flanker Josh Robinson and lock Roan Freehill always alive to a turnover.
Increasingly, the game was being played out in Arklow’s half and a tap penalty was all the encouragement captain Cian Conroy needed to blast over for Allen to convert in the 58th minute.
Slick handling from a tap penalty put Cox in for his second before Kinsella tried a cross-kick to Tadgh Powell on the right and Kelly tried to put Kavanagh over on the left.
The resilience of Kelly was rewarded when scattering defenders for a well-deserved try.
St Mary’s had the time to make their way forward for centre Fionn O’Grady to cap a convincing performance.
Scorers: St Mary’s – S Cox 2 tries; R Allen try, 5 cons; C Conroy, F O’Grady, P Farrell try each. Arklow – O Kelly try; C Kinsella pen.
St Mary’s – Paidi Farrell; Cillian Foran, Stephen Cox, Fionn O’Grady, Ryan Dunne; Rory Allen, Mark Whelehan; Sean Brien, Shaun Donoghue, Conor McGrath, Dan O’Connell, Eoin Sheehan, Ultan McIntyre, Brian Dunne, Cian Conroy (Capt)
Replacements: Stevie Kane, Thomas O Connell, Ademar Stones, Cathal Monohan, Eric Hanley, Iarfhlaith Killaly, Jack Coyne, Jake Connolly, Ryan Grace.
Arklow CBS – Jamie Wolohan; Tadgh Powell, Sean McCarthy, Darragh O’Murchu, Scott Kavanagh; Conn Kinsella, Conor Healy; Josh Tunney, Philip Feokrytov, Eoin Byrne, Conor Gahan, Roan Freehill, Padraic Bermingham, Josh Robinson Oran Kelly.
Replacements: Dean Kelly-Farrell, Ben Clancey, John O’Neill, Tom Byrne, Thomas Furlong, Conn Keaney.
Pat Rossiter Junior Development Cup Final
Ardgillan CS 28 St Mary’s CBS Portlaoise 3
Ardgillan was able to add its name to the list of Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Pat Rossiter Junior Development Cup winners at Energia Park on Wednesday.
The Balbriggan school settled into their pattern of play pretty quickly, number eight Callum Beasley leading the way.
They made good enough use of their possession to take the lead when Beasley burst over in the seventh minute.
St Mary’s was able to turn the tables, in finding the front-foot as number eight Robert Keane and lock Adam Raji began to bounce bodies out of the way.
They managed a sustained bout of pressure to force a penalty which Daniel Thornton struck in the 17th minute.
Still, Ardgillan looked the more likely with Darragh McFadden pulling the strings. They came hard up the right to create a try for right-wing Jamie Murray, converted by McFadden in the 22nd minute.
The out-half added a penalty as a reflection of how Ardgillan were taking over the battle for territory to make it 13-3 at the interval.
McFadden broke away up the right to give Murray a sniff of the corner flag, soon coming back for another three points for 16-3 in the 36th minute.
St Mary’s certainly wasn’t lacking any commitment, the forwards faring well on the fringes as the pack knuckled down to nibbling away at the lead, hooker Cormac Deegan and lock Ronan McNamara trucking it up.
However, the ability of Ardgillan to counter from deep was exemplified by McFadden scooting around the outside only for a foot-in-touch to put a stop to his gallop.
Soon after, McFadden and Ben Mulvaney made good decisions to give Murray his head on the way to a second try.
Immediately, the Ardgillan backs showed their value for centre Harley Harold’s footwork and acceleration to come through for McFadden to convert at the finish.
Scorers: Argillan – J Murray 2 tries; H Harold, C Beasley try each; D McFadden 2 pens, con. St Mary’s – D Thornton pen.
Ardgillan – Shane Clarke; Jamie Murray, Ben Mulvaney, Harley Harold, Alex Jackson; Darragh McFadden, Cian Quinlan; Daniel Neag, Jack Quinn, Abdul Boudias, Kyle Russell, Conor McFadden, Darragh Cullen, Seamus Whealan, Callum Beasley (Capt).
Replacements: Conor O’Grady, Cian Bolton, Senan Williams, Jack Nally, Leon Cullen-McLoughlin.
St Mary’s CBS – Tadgh O’Sullivan; Paddy Fitzpatrick, Theo Adams, Cian Butler, Cillian Bowe; Daniel Thornton, Daniel Maunsell; Cha O Dwyer, Cormac Deegan, Darrin Dunne, Aaron Kingston, Adam Raji, David Brown, Ronan McNamara, Robert Keane
Replacements: Tomi Adayemi, Eoin Carey, David Reddin, Oran Darcy, Conor Stack, Liam Conroy, Eoghan Kennedy, Cormac Dunne.
Division 3A Junior Cup Development Shield
Newpark Comprehensive 20 Mercy Kilbeggan 19
The quality of captain Lewis Thornton and Andrew McAdams drove Newpark to victory in the Bank of Ireland Division 3A Development Junior Shield final at Energia Park on Wednesday.
The school from Blackrock didn’t hang around, Thornton carrying the fight from the off.
Clearly, McAdams was a standout in the back division, the full-back contributing one try and centre Bobby Kennedy the other as they moved 10-0 ahead in the 19th minute.
It was a matter of eating into the deficit for Mercy. They were given confidence by the play of prop Owen Tandy and a try by centre Darragh O’Brien, converted by Neal Pierson for 10-7 at the break.
Newpark were on the brink of breaking through from a Thornton turnover when Mercy hooker Conor Molloy poached the ball.
Not content with that, the hooker moved the ball right for Pierson to feed O’Brien and the centre took off around the outside, kicking ahead and outpacing the cover to gather on the bounce and touchdown on the right for a 12-10 lead in the 45th minute.
Straight away, Newpark secured the restart inside the Mercy 22 and went forward, scrum-half Neil Og Cleray shifting the ball right for McAndrew to put Patrick Donaghy over, recovering the lead in the 53rd minute.
They came again, McAndrew taking the ball up the middle and Thornton carrying hard for McCullagh to cut back for the try to make it a two-score game.
As bodies tired the gaps appeared more readily, Kilbeggan number eight Eric Martin and prop Molloy strode forward to threaten the line.
The desire to run everything was rewarded when Pierson started a counter-attack which Eoin Robinson finished from distance, Pierson clipping the conversion to make for a hectic endgame.
Scorers: Newpark – A McAdams try, pen con; P Donaghy, B Kennedy try each. Kilbeggan – D O’Brien 2 tries; E Robinson try each; N Pierson 2 cons.
Newpark – Andrew McAdams; Patrick Donaghy, Bobby Kennedy, Sami Chorbachi, Oliver Fine; Billy McCullagh, Neil Og Cleray; Motheo Suping, Joe Gill, Jack Morton, Owen Hopwood, Thomas Sheehy, Jago Hurley, Jack Marnell, Lewis Thornton (capt).
Replacements: Ivan Zakharov, Oliver O’Connor, Patrick Agatowski, Feidhlim Lennon, Ethan Keddy, Rui Considine, Eli Donaghy, Roan Smyth.
Kilbeggan – Aaron Jackson; Shane Maloney, Conor Maloney, Darragh O’Brien, Patrick Moloney; Neal Pierson, Eoin Robinson; Morgan Redmond, Conor Molloy, Owen Tandy, Christian Dowling, Kevin Cuffe, Jack Moloney, Michael Cummins, Eric Martin
Replacements: Kyle McCormack, Sean Elliffe, Charlie Bourke, Reuben Von Mollendorff, Jack Coyne, Joe Clavin, Daniel Caufield, Luke Robinson, Dylan Corrigan, David O’Malley, Darragh Galvin Dunne.
Division 3A Senior Cup Development Shield
Moyne Community School 19 Presentation DLS Bagenalstown 19
Fionn Hickey’s injury-time try allowed Cormac Nolan’s conversion to force a replay of the Bank of Ireland Division 3A Development Senior Shield final at Energia Park on Wednesday.
The Carlow school opened up strongly to take control of the territory, pressing the action through number eight Hickey.
They didn’t have to wait too long to make a breakthrough, the forwards, led by flanker Billy Fitzpatrick, grafting to clear a path for left-wing Zach Kelly to dive over in the 10th minute.
This was a dynamic encounter as the speed men had the time and space and surface to try their luck.
Moyne’s slow start gave way to an increased share of the ball, going close from a lineout as a warning of what was to come.
Their first try started and ended with Eoghan Murtagh, the flanker beating two tackles before getting around in support to crash over for out-half Sean Smyth to grab the lead in the 26th minute.
There was plenty of positive play on both sides without the breakthrough they craved ahead of half-time.
The commitment to run the ball and play out of the tackle continued, Murtagh almost stretching the advantage only for a knock-on near the line.
It was Murtagh doing the damage once again to put Moyne back on the front-foot, scrum-half Barry Donnelly powering over for Smyth’s conversion to make it 14-5 in the 53rd minute.
A piercing break by Kelly, operating in the centre, established a presence inside the 22 and Hickey’s tap-and-go from a penalty was too quick for a reeling defence, out-half Nolan adding the extras for 14-12 in the 58th minute.
That man Murtagh was a double-movement away from his second try. Not to worry, number eight Ryan Darcy’s strength in contact proved the difference for the next try in the 66th minute.
As the minutes slipped by, De La Salle came hunting for seven points, Kelly and Nolan springing into action at every opportunity.
They just didn’t have the wherewithal to make it count in the face of Moyne’s until Hickey’s leg drive did the trick for Nolan’s conversion to force the replay.
Scorers: Moyne – E Murtagh, B Donnelly, R Darcy try each; S Smyth 2 cons. Bagenalstown – F Hickey 2 tries; Z Kelly try; C Nolan 2 cons.
Moyne – Paul Finnegan; Jeff Niee, Auley Thomas, Aaron Smyth, Conor Collum; Sean Smyth, Barry Donnelly; Martin Bissett, Chris Grimes, Ronan Mullally, Ian McLoughlin, Odhran Gray, Shane O’Hara, Eoghan Murtagh, Ryan Darcy.
Replacements: Jack Patton, Sean Conboy, Lorcan Reilly, Joe Finnegan, Darron Walsh, Dylan McCabe, Joe Reilly, Ronan Cooney.
Bagenalstown – Eoghan Doyle; Cian Brennan, Caleb Jeffares, Evin Rudkins, Zach Kelly; Cormac Nolan, Paul Fitzpatrick; Fiach Kavanagh (Capt), Darragh O’Brien, Patrick Wade, Tom Connors, Eoin Fitzpatrick, Billy Fitzpatrick, Daniel Whelan, Fionn Hickey.
Replacements: Darragh Byrne, Ross O’Neill, James Farrell, David O’Dwyer, Jack Nolan, James Walsh, Eoin Connolly, Liam McDonnell, Aarran Murphy, Aron Uzunkaya.
